The Two-Way

6:53 am

Thu May 22, 2014

Coup In Thailand: Military Seizes Control Of Country

Thai soldiers patrol after army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha announced that the armed forces were seizing power after months of political turmoil.

Pornchai KittiwongsakulAFP/Getty Images

Thailand's army is now running the country. Two days after declaring martial law — and saying it wasn't staging a coup — the military has changed its mind, Thailand's army chief says.

Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha announced the coup d'etat on national television, saying the military is taking over to give Thailand a chance to "return to normal." The country has been locked in conflict since at least November, and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was removed from office by a court earlier this month.

"In order for the situation to return to normal quickly and for society to love and be at peace again ... and to reform the structure of the political, economic and social structure, the military needs to take control of power," Prayuth said, according to Reuters.

Update at 8:45 a.m. ET: How It Happened

From Bangkok, reporter Michael Sullivan describes how the coup took place. He tells NPR's Morning Edition that many see the takeover as an inevitable continuation of events that began with the martial law declaration earlier this week.

"The surprising thing today was that the leader of the army was actually meeting with various representatives of the pro- and anti-government forces," Michael says. "He was trying to come up with some sort of a compromise."

"When that didn't happen, he just pulled the plug on those talks, and actually detained several members of those parties."

Michael says that in a sense, the events were "sort of like one of those scams the cops run, when they want people who are out on a fugitive warrant — they say, 'You've won a free TV, please come and claim your prize.' "

The Thai military last seized power in 2006. Michael says it will again try to craft a constitution that can bring a unified government not controlled by people linked to wealthy former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in 2006. He is the brother of the recently ousted Yingluck Shinawatra.